Meanwhile, the women’s elite road race, due to be held the previous day on Oct. 15, will take a shorter route of 134.5km.

It starts from Education City and then heads through the northern districts of Doha and finishes with seven laps on the Pearl.

The starting line for the men’s and women’s team time-trials, scheduled for Oct. 9, will be the Lusail Sports Complex. The 40km route will wind south and finish with one lap of the Pearl, according to details on the organizers’ website.

Volunteers thought

This week, local organizers Doha Cycling 2016 began seeking volunteers to work at the event.

“Volunteers are such a vital part of the success of this event. They are part of the present and future of Qatar’s commitment to sport,” Doha 2016 chairman Sheikh Khaled bin Ali Al-Thani said in a statement.

Adam Hodges

Tour of Qatar 2016 Adam Hodges

He continued:

“We look forward to welcoming each and every one of them as they create a memorable Championship for Qatar and the rest of the world.”

Qatar already hosts the Tour of Qatar, which takes place every February. This year, a total of 18 teams took part in the grueling event.

Briton Mark Cavendish donned the final golden jersey with his overall time of overall time of 13hr, 47mins and 23 secs for the 625km route.

New timing

The championships, organized by the world cycling body Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), are held annually, usually in late summer.

However, this year’s event is being held later due to the Olympics and to avoid the Qatar’s summer heat.

Unlike other events, cyclists compete in national teams for the team time trial.

The winners of the senior individual time trials and the road races become world champion. They are entitled to wear the rainbow jersey during the following year.

Please read our Comments Policy before joining the discussion. By commenting, you agree to abide by it.

Some comments may not be automatically published. This is not action taken by us, but instead, depending on whether or not you have verified your email address, or if your post triggers automatic flags.